Ortho-K for Kids with Videre Eyecare

Being an avid reader since young,  Xav has been on glasses when he started Primary 1. But boys being boys, I needed to constantly remind him to handle his glasses properly, not to act cool by removing or wearing the glasses with a single hand, clean the smudged lens when needed for he can be totally oblivious to it, check for worn-out nose pads and scratched lens and the list goes on.

Orthokeratology or Ortho-K for short, this may sound familiar to some of you and foreign to some. Ortho-K is the use of gas permeable contact lenses (hard lens) to be worn at night so that the lens can gently reshaped the cornea and temporary correct the short-sightedness while one is sleeping so that the next day, one can still function without having the need to wear glasses or contact lenses and also to slow down the progression of myopia.

This is a totally new experience for us and especially so, for the boy as it can be quite fearful for some kids to put a foreign object in their eyes. To be honest, I do have my reservation about it because at the end of the day, it concerns his vision and his eye health as well as concerns like infection and ulceration with regards to this journey. I will cover this in the later part of the post. 

We made our first consultation with Yee Leen, one of the optometrist from Videre Eyecare for an Ortho-K evaluation and also a trial fit to assess if Xav was suitable for it.

Below image is a WAM 700 machine that can check for multiple objective refraction, eye pressure, axial length of the eye and many more.

Was it only me? I was amazed by this little station that could straight away give the reading of power of the lens directly from the lens.

Yee Leen gave Xav a thorough professional Comprehensive Eye Examination, Corneal Health Screening, Dry Eyes Detection, Corneal Curvature Mapping (Topography), Eye Pressure (Intra-Ocular Pressure), Contact Lens Fit, Wear & Care as well as Contact Lens Safety Recommendation.

With Yee Leen, explaining to him how Ortho-K treatment works. 

Being a competitive swimmer, Ortho-K treatment would be of beneficial to him and he would definately love to have clearer vision under water.

After explaining to Xav what the routine involved, the safety precaution to take, the commitment and discipline needed for this treatment, he told us he would love to give it a try! Whooo hooo! He is ready to throw away his glasses! 

This is his new commitment and routine (day and night), I was surprised that he was actually more cautious and remembered the steps much better than me which was good! The hygiene and proper handling of the lens is very crucial to prevent any risk of infection.

Daily routine

As his eyes are a little dry due to the regular swim, he has to do the following in the morning before school:

1. Drip blink Intensive Eyedrops before he removes the lens and drip again after he removes so as to moisturize the eyes. 

2. Use the saline to rinse the suction pump before using it to remove the lens.

Before wearing the lens to sleep (at night):
1. Drip blink Intensive Eyedrops before he dons on the lens and drip again after he wears it.
2. After pouring away the contents (conditioning solution), use the saline to rinse the lens holder, overturn it and leave to dry.

I have raised some of my concerns, here are some advice given to me on how to prevent eye infection, ulceration and lack of oxygen to the corneal: 

1. Always wash your hands clean (with soap) before handling the lens. 

2. DO NOT clean the Ortho-K lens with tap water. Tap water is teeming with bacterial although it has gone through intensive filtering, always wash with Saline. 

3. Commitment to return for regular check of the eyes to make sure eye health is in optimal condition is essential. Early detection is always better than allowing any poor eye health to deteriorate. 

4. Most would have thought that it is fine to keep using the same contact lens casing. But do you know that it is essential to change it every quarterly? 

5. Once the lens are being put on, the child should be heading to bed straight away. The optimum hours of sleep is between 6 to 8 hours with the lens on. For Xav, he usually sleeps at 10.30pm due to his training hours but thankfully it still meets the sleep requirement of 8 hours. 

How often did we go back for review?
The first night after Xav donned on the Ortho-K lens, we have to return to very next day for a review to see if the fitting had taken place well.

The second visit was a week later and third was two weeks later. The frequency of returning for reviews will be stretched longer as it goes.

What Xav experienced was, after the first night, he removed it and vision was much better than when he was totally off glasses (before he started Ortho-K treatment) though it was still blurred. Second day onwards, he excitedly told me "Mummy, my vision is so much clearer now!"

Xav is now enjoying lens-free in the day and can indulge himself in all kind of sports without having the risk of getting broken glasses or bent frame at the end of the day.

The price of Ortho-K lens starts from $1,800 onwards depending on individual complexity and can last for 1 to 2 years before you change. 

Thank you Videre Eyecare! for all the knowledge and patience in guiding us on this journey. Should you be keen to start your child on the Ortho-K journey, do give Videre Eyecare a call and make an appointment for an consultation and lens fitting at 6369 0041. Book your appointment online at http://videre-eyecare.com.sg/our-services/professional-eye-examination-by-age-group/ortho-k

Videre Eyecare is located at:
Forum the Shopping Mall

583 Orchard Road

#01-26/27/35/36/37

Singapore 238884 Email: forum@videre-eyecare.com.sg

Website: videre-eyecare.com.sg 

For more information, you can also visit Videre Eyecare:

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Disclaimer: This review post is a collaboration between Videre Eyecare and MyFatPocket, all opinions are of my own.

[Review] Eu Yan Sang Health Supplement for the Children

Allow me to summarize the differences before I conceived Xav and Vera, during pregnancy and their immune system during their first 5 years.  

Before I conceived Xav: Did not consume any chinese herbs nor supplements to strenthen to my immunity. 
During the pregnancy: Did not consume any chinese herbs but took a supplement to increase my energy level. 
After birth (childhood): First 4 years, he was wheezing every 3 months and needed to be on neubalizer and was even hospitalized twice for Bronchiolitis. He was on a pill 'Singulair' for lung strenthening daily for almost 2.5 years before things changed for the better with changes to the diet and lifestyle.

Before I conceived Vera: for 6 months, I was on chinese herbs to strengthen my health and tried to conceive. 
During Pregnancy: I was regularly going back to the sinseh for reviews and continued on with the consumption of chinese herbs to strengthen my body through out the pregnancy. 
After birth (childhood) : Minus the severe eczema saga, Vera hardly visits the PD or GP. Whenever she is unwell, I will make changes to her diet and use essential oils to work on her accupressure points. Her body is very receptive to fight against the virus without medical intervention. She will usually break the fever by the second or third day. The first time she took paracetamol was in September when her temperature hit 40 degree celsius. That was my max, that temperature was way beyond my and her comfort level to fight.  

Not that she does not fall sick at all, on and off she would still still get cough and cold bugs. But I usually self-medicate based on past experience. Mainly because, my TCM always prescribe the usual pearl poweder and Hou Zao San for phlegm and I will also boil soups that can soothe and nourish the lungs. At times when I ran out of the prescribed powder for cough, the nearest Eu Yan Sang outlet will be the shop to go to, as it is much nearer to me than the usual TCM hall I always go to for consultation. 

Before this collaboration came, my cupboard will always have a few boxes of the following on standby: 

Eu Yan Sang Kitz Cough Powder
This was recommended to me by one of the EYS staff when  I walked in and told her that I had no idea if the kids' cough leaned more on the heaty or cold type of cough. You will see alot of similar cough powder on the shelf but this box with the purple packaging was recommended to be the "Neutral" type which is suitable to help eliminate symptoms for both types of cough.

Do not belittle this tiny bottle, it works wonder each time!

Best Seller, $29.80

I think I have very cooperative kids, I have no issues with Xav and Vera taking any chinese medication or supplement and yes, no struggles nor attempts to run off. I would guess it was partly due to the fact that I introduced to them when they were very young and they were kind of used to it. Infact, they find western medicine yucky.

Eu Yan Sang Pearl Powder

If you have heard about the benefits of Pearl Powder, it's high mineral content essential for healthy skin and can help slow down anti-aging process. It is often grind into super fine powder and being used internally and externally for beauty purposes.

Do you also know that Pearl Powder works amazingly well to reduce phlegm. I like to give it to the kids when they are down with a phlegmy cough (but not when they are wheezing), preferably in the night time as Pearl Powder can help with grounding and promoting better sleep too! Now, I recalled when I was young, my mum used to give us powder whenever we experienced any traumatic experience, now I understood why!

I read that Pearl powder has "cooling" properties and it works to bring down body heatiness. I always pair it up with Kitz Cough Powder. Probable after 2 or 3 days, the symptoms would be so much better, else gone. 

Photo credit: Eu Yan Sang, 

Power Up series (Concentration, Vision & Appetite)

If you read part one of my review on Eu Yan Sang supplements for Adults, you would have read how Chicken Essence works for me since student days till date. But this was not given to the kids before, especially Xav.

If you do read labels, most of the normal essence sold in the market contains stimulents such as caffeine as well as caramel. To me, it is akin to feeding coke (think of the colouring and preservatives) to the kids on a daily basis. For Xav, it is a no-go as he used to have childhood asthma and I was told by the doctor to cut off any form of food with preservatives and colouring. I have put on hold of supplementing him with chicken essence until Eu Yan Sang has this formulated 'Power Up!' range that is suitable for children from 2 onwards!

Why Power Up! series?  You can be totally at ease in giving to the young bodies as it is caramel and preservatives free and no added flavouring!

The range consists of the following:
- Power Up! Concentration (Yellow Box)
- Power Up! Appetite (Blue Box)
- Power Up! Vision (Orange Box)

Each range has a cute doodle to indicate which part of the body would benefit (from the top to the bottom):

Power Up! Concentration: This is fat and cholestrol free as these were being extracted during the brewing process. Power Up! Concentration may help in giving the mind and cognitive support a boost for greater focus and mental clarity, I gave a bottle to Xav daily before he sat for his papers.

Power Up! Appetite: This may help in giving appetite a boost! I read that there are similar herbs like Dang Shen [党参], Huai Shan [淮山]  (Dried Chinese Yam) & Fu ling [茯苓] in the contents.

From my knowledge of chinese herbs, Huai Shan helps to invigorate the spleen and stomach, for deficiency in energy with poor appetite and fatigue. You can get the dried ones from medical shops or get the fresh wild yam from the supermarkets while Dang Shen helps in nourishing blood and vital energy. I always love to cook fresh wild yam & lotus roots soup, just add pork ribs and some honey dates.

Dang Shen is similar to Ginseng but it is much more afforable (some people called it the 'poor man's ginseng' and is often used for Qi deficiency by my Sinseh whenever I am consulting her for fatigue. Dang Shen can also help with improving appetite! So if you have a fussy eater, this may do good!

Power Up! Vision: I have always heard of snacking on wolfberries to improve eyesight or to simply seep it in a glass of hot water and drink up everything. In the bottles of Power Up! Vision, apart from the 100% pure chicken goodness, ingredients also include wolfberries [枸杞], Bei qi [北芪]  and Bai He [百合] extract. Of course having said this, proper eye habits must be practised (more on eye care tips here) as well as do take a look into your liver health. This organ plays a part to our eye health.

I have at times used Bai He when the kids are having cough, as the dried lily bulbs helps to moisten the lungs and promote better sleep. You can read more about the function and benefits of dried lily bulbs here. 

Apart from drinking it from the bottles, you can also use these in your cooking for the little ones! Steam chicken or fish in it, it is pretty much an effortless dish to prepare! You can more about how I cooked chicken essence soup from my previous post.

The Power Up! series is retailing at $17.90 per box (Eu Rewards Special at $13.90 each), check them out here!

If you are looking for an alternatives to western medicine for cough, do give the above products a try. It works well for both Xav and Vera and I hope it works for your little ones too! A gentle reminder to watch their diet as well, I usually cut off dairies like cow's milk, egg yolks especially, chicken and citrus fruits like berries and oranges, alot of warm water intake and plenty of sleep! Ample rest is very essential to allow the body to recover fast.

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Disclaimer: This post is a sponsored post by Eu Yan Sang Singapore, no monetary compensation is involved and all opinions are of my own.